Cathy Kay Mellema

Cathy Kay (Drummond) Mellema was born in Chicago, IL on February 15, 1942 and went to be with her Lord on June 18, 2018. She is survived by her husband, Evert, son Todd and daughter in law Stephanie, daughter in law Laura, and four grandchildren: Rhys 23, Alix 18, Zachary 16, and Ridley 15. Her daughter, Michelle, son Rhett, mother Thelma Drummond, father Martin I. Drummond, and brother Martin P. Drummond preceded her in departing this world.

Cathy graduated from the Chicago vocational school on Chicago’s south side in 1960. She received a scholarship to Southern Illinois University where she obtained her degree in Journalism in 1964. She developed a love for horses in her childhood and the highlight of her life was summer church camp where she had an opportunity to go on horseback rides. Cathy was determined to leave the Chicago area upon her graduation from college and landed a position with the Littleton Independent’s editor Houston Waring. Upon arrival to the Denver Metro area with a college friend, Alice Swanson, they stopped to refuel the Ford Falcon at a service station. They met a young man by the name of Buddy Brown who initiated a conversation with the two attractive young ladies. They mentioned that they were needing to find an apartment in the area and he replied, “I’ve got a friend in the real estate business and I know he has apartments for rent”. Buddy contacted Evert that afternoon and Evert showed the girls apartments he had available. Unfortunately, the apartments were not acceptable to them, but Evert gave Cathy his card and asked her to contact him for lunch sometime. (no cell phone, email, or land line for Cathy at that moment).

Cathy and Alice settled in to their 2 bedroom apartment in Lakewood with a view of the Rocky Mountains. A few days later Cathy decided to call Evert(Ev) for lunch. That started their love relationship which led to their marriage at the Lakewood Methodist Church on August 6, 1965.

Ev had custody of his two year old son Todd from a previous marriage and Cathy became mom to Todd. Instant family and motherhood! Daughter Michelle was born on December 23, 1967 and son Rhett on May 5, 1970.

Cathy continued as part time reporter for the Denver Post after the children were born. She also started an interior design company, and took the children with her on appointments if necessary. Later on she obtained her real estate broker’s license to assist Ev with his business endeavors.

Her love for horses and Ev’s love for the wide open spaces(he was a farm boy) prompted them to move to the Parker area in 1975 in a subdivision that they were developing on 640 acres of land that had been owned by relatives for many years. The one horse, one pony family expanded to include several horses, sheep, hogs, cattle, and various other critters as the children were involved in 4-H and other animal related activities.

Ev and Cathy joined Calvary Temple soon after their marriage and Cathy assisted pastor Charles Blair with communications at the church. Subsequently, they have been active members of First Baptist Church of Parker(now Crossroads Community Church) and Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch.

Cathy was one of the founders of Roundup Fellowhip in the early 70’s which is a Christian non profit organization that still provides love, care, and support for developmentally disabled children and adults.

In 2009 Cathy and Ev opened the Parker Country Market on land that they had a partial ownership interest in. In spite of the medical challenges she faced in recent years she continued to actively participate in the management of the business.

Cathy accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior at an early age and made the decision to follow the Lord in baptism at age 10. She often commented that as she walked home from the Baptist church she attended on the south side of Chicago that day her burdens were all lifted and it was a “life changing experience” as she was assured by her Lord that her sins were covered and her desire became to follow Him for the rest of her life in gratitude for all He had done and was doing for her.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Cathy's memory to: